American voters believe 59 - 34 percent that the earth is getting warmer, but most voters say the
U.S. should not sign a treaty promising to reduce greenhouse gases, or should not sign such a
treaty unless other nations do the same, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Among voters who believe in global warming, 57 percent believe it is caused by human activity.

A narrow 47 - 43 percent approval for his handling of the war in Afghanistan.

The U.S. should sign a treaty to reduce greenhouse gases only if other nations make the
same commitment, 30 percent of voters say, while 33 percent say the U.S. should sign such a
treaty even if other nations don't match America's commitment. Another 28 percent say the
U.S. should not sign such a treaty, no matter what other nations do.

The Obama Administration is "going too far in protecting the environment at the expense
of American jobs," 38 percent of voters say, while 36 percent say the administration is striking
the right balance between jobs and the environment and 8 percent say it is too focused on
protecting jobs, at the expense of the environment.

"President Barack Obama's job approval remains below 50 percent, but for now has
stabilized," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"The President continues to have sizable gender, racial and age gaps in his support, and smaller
income gaps."

Men disapprove of him 49 - 42 percent; women approve 50 - 38 percent. Whites
disapprove 50 - 38 percent; blacks approve 91 - 5 percent. Voters 18 to 34 years old approve 53 -
35 percent while older voters disapprove 46 - 44 percent. Approval by income group ranges
from 47 - 40 percent among those making less than $50,000 per year to 46 - 44 percent among
those making $50,000 to $100,000 to a negative 45 - 48 percent among those making more than
$100,000.

Obama's job approval had been on an incremental decline since the summer and dropped
under 50 percent for the first time last month. He retains the confidence of Democrats, 80 - 12
percent, but gets a 79 - 13 percent disapproval from Republicans and a 46 - 41 percent thumbs
down from independent voters.

Meanwhile, the lead that Democrats in Congress held over Republicans in how the two
parties are judged in their job performance has significantly narrowed from earlier this year. Now
voters disapprove of the Republicans 62 - 29 percent, and the Democrats 59 - 32 percent.

"Roughly twice as many Americans disapprove as approve of the job performance of
lawmakers of both parties. Since March, the Democrats have lost 13 points in their approval
rating," Brown said. "For the most part, it's not that Republicans in Congress have improved
that much, since GOP remains a four-letter word in much of America. It's more that the
Democrats have sunk to the Republican level in the eyes of voters."

American voters say 51 - 41 percent that the U.S. is doing the right thing fighting in
Afghanistan, down from 57 - 35 percent December 8, in the wake of Obama's West Point
announcement that he was sending 30,000 more troops to fight there.

From December 15 - 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,616 registered voters
nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as
President?

32. As you may know, representatives of governments from all over the world have
been meeting in Denmark to seek agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Do you think the U.S. should sign a treaty to reduce greenhouse gases; A) only
if other major countries, such as India and China, agree to make similar
economic sacrifices or B) should the U.S. sign a treaty even if these other
countries do less or C) should the U.S. not sign a treaty to reduce greenhouse
gases, no matter what other countries do?

33. Which comes closer to your point of view about the Obama Administration;
A) It is striking the right balance between helping reduce greenhouse gases and
protecting American jobs, B) It is going too far in protecting the environment
at the expense of American jobs or C) It is going too far protecting American
jobs at the expense of the environment?